A dishonest clerk who "systematically swindled" two parish councils out of £36,326 had deprived communities out of much needed funds, a court was told.
Alan Noble, 67, lied to councillors about their financial position whilst paying himself a double part-time salary and pocketed other sums he was not entitled to.
Leicester Crown Court was told he defrauded Waltham on the Wolds and Thorpe Arnold Parish Council out of £21,193 and duped Buckminster Parish Council out of £15,131.
At an earlier hearing, Noble, of Benskin Close, Little Dalby, near Melton, admitted 15 offences of fraud by abuse of position, which included writing cheques for his own use and dishonestly arranging standing order home phone and internet payments, on various dates between 2012 and 2016.
He also admitted two offences of forgery, relating to each of the parish councils in Leicestershire.
'Once he'd dipped his fingers into the pot, it became easy'
Judge Nicholas Dean QC said: "It was quite a large sum of money for these parish councils to lose.
"We are looking at him obtaining something in the order of £10,000 a year.
"When interviewed he denied his dishonesty.
"It was to supplement an otherwise modest income.
"The problem was that once he'd dipped his fingers into the pot, it became easy and as long as he got away with it he continued.
"It was a matter of when he would be caught, and not if, but he got away with it for a number of years."
Passing sentence, the judge told Noble: "You betrayed your position of trust as clerk of both parish councils, although it's right to say you didn't do it in a particularly sophisticated way."
The judge said Noble falsified the accounts and the funds he stole should have been available to benefit of both communities.
He said: "You have no means to repay the significant sum you stole and £36,000 remains outstanding."
He ordered forfeiture of £411 from the defendant's bank account, to be shared between the two councils in compensation.
Judge Dean said: "You were, in effect, supplementing your income (of his main job as a garden centre employee).
"It hardly enriched you, because you only had a modest income, but you used it to enhance your modest lifestyle.
"I'm told you're fit enough to do unpaid work and it seems nothing would be achieved by sending you directly to prison - although it was serious offending."
'He was dishonest in a number of ways'
Andrew Peet, prosecuting, said: "As clerk, his role was to manage the finances and deal with the grant money given to the parish councils from local government, to carry out audits and present the accounts to the parish councils.
"He was dishonest in a number of ways in relation to each council, all strikingly similar.
"He took double salary payments, paid cheques to himself and used creative accounting by putting false withdrawals on cheque stubs and in the accounts."
Without authority, Noble arranged for each parish council to pay for his home broadband; for more than he could have reasonably claimed on behalf of parish council work.
Mr Peet said: "He was simultaneously swindling each parish council.
"When interviewed he denied the dishonesty and asserted one of the councillors at Waltham had it in for him - and that is not accepted by the prosecution."
Leicestershire police officer in the case, Det Con Christopher Morland, was praised and publicly commended by the judge for his "diligent and detailed investigation."
The judge said the defendant's denial of wrongdoing had resulted in "a lengthy police inquiry" before Noble owned up.
Guy Wyatt, mitigating, said Noble was of previous good character.
He said: "They weren't private businesses.
"The fact it was public money meant the existence of the organisations were not at risk and jobs weren't at risk.
"I'm instructed to express regret.
"I can't offer any explanation as to why he acted dishonestly.
"References show he is fully trusted by his employer, who knows what's happened."
Noble was given an 18 month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work.
'These offences were very mean'
After the hearing, Waltham on the Wolds and Thorpe Arnold Parish Councillor, Martin Lusty, issued a statement, saying: "The parish council has spent a great deal of time working with the police to build a strong case for the prosecution.
"We're pleased that our ex-clerk, Alan Noble, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges of fraud and false accounting.
"The suspended sentence is entirely appropriate due to the blatant abuse of trust involved.
"It's hoped we will be able to draw a close on an unfortunate period in our history and move forward.
"We will now be pursuing all means possible to recover the parish's monetary loss."
Councillor Lusty also said: "These offences were very mean.
"The parish councillors are all volunteers giving up their own free time but Mr Noble's (part-time) clerk's post was salaried.
"He took about a third of the council's annual income over several years, which could have provided new amenities."
